Ossian Collection > Dean of Lismore's book

xlviii INTEODUCTION.
Ill the summer of 1759, Mr. John Home, the author
of Douglas, met Mr. James Macpherson, then a tutor in
the family of Graham of Balgowan, at IMofFat. Mr. Home
had previously been told by Professor Adam Fergusson,
a native of Atholl, and acquainted with Gaelic, that
there existed in the country some remains of ancient
Gaelic poetry. Mr. Home mentioned the circumstance
to James Macj^herson, also a Highlander, and a native of
Badenoch, and was told by him that he had some pieces
of ancient Gaelic poetry in his possession. After some
difficulty, Mr. Home obtained translations of them from
Macpherson, and took them to Edinburgh, and showed
the translations to Drs. Blair, Fergusson, and Robertson,
by whom they were much admired. Macpherson was
importuned to translate all he had, and the translations
furnished by him were published in a little volume in
June 1760, under the title of "Fragments of Ancient
Poetry collected in the Highlands of Scotland."
There seems little reason to doubt that these transla-
tions were made from genuine fragments in Macpherson's
possession. If they existed at all, they were in his pos-
session before any talk had arisen of translating Gaelic
poetry. There was* no pretext of going to the Higiilands
to- collect them. There was no idea, at the time the
translations were produced, that such poetry could have
any value in the eyes of the literary world, and there
seems no motive for any deception. In the frag-
ments, or rather short poems, contained in this little
work, the proper names are smoothed down from their